Stock image of an offshore drilling rig.

Iran approves fields for foreign capital

Iran

TEHRAN, October 1, 2015 – Iran has approved a new investment scheme to attract foreign capital towards their oil industry once sanctions are lifted, Iranian state news agency Mehr reported.

Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said to Mehr that the new contracts would be announced at a conference in Tehran in November. More than 40 onshore fields, mostly near the county’s borders, will be opened up to shared operatorships.

International sanctions have caused Iran’s exports to drop to an average of 1.4 million barrels of oil per day (bopd). When sanctions are fully lifted, Iran plans to increase exports to 6 million bopd.

In anticipation of more economic freedom, the country’s Iranian Offshore Oil Company described its plans to invest $7 billion into infrastructure. Iranian Oil Terminals Company managing director Seyed Pirouz Mousavi reported that the country’s ports have been remodeled to handle the additional throughput.

“We already have customers for all the oil available in our terminals. By the removal of sanctions we will increase immediate oil production by 500,000 bopd,” Mousavi said to Mehr.

Iran’s crude output was 2.9 million bopd in August, making it the world’s fourth largest producer.

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